When Ruth Stulman was growing up in Rabat, along Morocco’s Atlantic coast, the end of Passover was celebrated with the entire neighborhood. Ruth would run from one house to the next greeting neighbors with terbah (from terbah u’tissad), an Arabic felicitation to wish one luck and success. Tables were dressed with crepes called mufleta accompanied with honey and butter, cookies made with walnuts and marzipan or pistachios and rosewater, and couscous infused with milk and cinnamon. “You have to take something at every house,” Ruth explains.
The celebration, called Mimouna, has Moroccan origins but is observed in other North African Jewish communities and in Israel. “Mimouna happens to be on the last day of Pesach, because that’s when the Jews crossed the sea,” Ruth adds. “It’s a moment of celebration and freedom.”
Place the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low until combined. With the mixer running, slowly stream in the water. If it seems dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time until the dough just comes together.
Turn speed up to medium-high and mix for 10-12 minutes until the dough is uniform and supple. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Pour the oil evenly over a rimmed baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto the oiled baking sheet and use a paring knife to cut 24 equal sized pieces of dough (each piece should be somewhere between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball).
To shape each ball, stretch one quarter of the dough up, over and under to the middle. Do this three more times with the remaining quarters of dough. Think about creating a little parachute with your dough where the four quarters meet at the bottom and form a ball. Then, take the ball and squeeze it through the ring made by connecting your thumb and forefinger together to form a tight ball. Coat both sides of the ball with the oil on the sheet tray and place seam side down on the baking sheet while you shape the rest of the dough balls.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and lightly oil a clean work surface.
Set a dough ball on your work surface and flatten and spread it into a 12-14” paper thin round (try not to make any holes, but if it happens, that’s ok!). Carefully lift the dough from your surface and lay it in the pan. Immediately start stretching your next layer. Once the dough in the skillet starts to lightly brown, use a spatula to carefully flip it over. Lay the second layer of stretched dough on top of the first. Immediately start stretching your next piece of dough. When the bottom of the dough in the pan is lightly golden (2-3 minutes), flip the two layers over together. Lay the third layer of stretched dough on top of the stack. Repeat this process – stretching, flipping, and adding to the dough stack until all of the layers are stacked in the skillet like a giant crepe cake. Adjust the heat as needed while you work so that the layers don’t take on too much color. Remove the stack from the skillet and place on a large plate or serving dish.
Enjoy immediately with lots of butter and honey. To eat, peel away a layer of mufleta from the stack, add a layer of butter or honey and roll into a cylinder or fold into quarters.
